


Things you said when you were scared

by Laramie



Series: Things you said [13]
Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Established Relationship, Happy, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-10
Updated: 2015-04-10
Packaged: 2018-03-22 06:26:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3718486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laramie/pseuds/Laramie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An evening drink leads to a moment of bravery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things you said when you were scared

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by todowntononanimpala from the "things you said..." meme.
> 
> Warning for use of reclaimed homophobic slur.

**March 1925**

They went out for a drink, after Thomas had shut the shop. It was Jimmy’s first day off after six late nights working at the pub, so he was keen to relax before he returned the next day. Thomas joked that they should go to The Bull, where Jimmy worked, but Jimmy shot a look full of daggers at him until he grinned and conceded that they could go to The Red Lion.

Jimmy was still faintly embarrassed about being caught in such a soppy moment that morning. Thomas had, mercifully, barely mentioned it, but Jimmy kept seeing a secret smirk tugging at his lips.

And, honestly, it sort of made him want to snog Thomas senseless, so he wasn’t complaining about _that_.

They found themselves a table to sit at. Jimmy’s pint had to be pried from its surface every time he took a sip. Jimmy listened attentively to Thomas’s tales of the shop: the lady who had brought in a pocket watch, baffled as to why it did not work, only for Thomas to realise that the hands had somehow fallen into the mechanism itself; the two young boys who had tried to _pawn_ a carriage clock; and the housekeeper who had booked him to check on the grandfather clock in the house she managed - Thomas made house calls on Fridays.

Even after all this time - years of friendship, seventeen months of a relationship, and nine months of living together - Jimmy loved to listen to Thomas’s take on the world. He had a way of describing things, describing people, that was endlessly fascinating.

Thomas was halfway through a summary of the week’s finances (Jimmy had a feeling he was working up to saying that they could afford for Jimmy to work one less shift a week at the pub - it had only been intended as a support system until the shop was secure enough for Jimmy to work there) when a thickset man stumped over, leaned over their table and spat: “ _Queers_.”

It made Jimmy’s heart pound in the back of his throat; this was exactly what he had always been afraid of. Without acknowledging the man directly, Thomas raised dismissive eyebrows at Jimmy.

“So I think -” Thomas began coolly, before being interrupted.

“No one wants to know what a _queer_ thinks,” the man sneered, next to them.

Jimmy saw red. He was so afraid he thought he might faint but now he was also so angry that his arms and legs felt numb. He met the man’s piggy eyes fiercely. “Don’t speak to him like that,” he ordered. His voice shook.

“I can speak to him how I like,” the man retorted. “He’s -”

Jimmy was on his feet, the roaring in his ears blocking out any other noise in the pub. “ _Don’t. Speak to him. Like that_.”

The man was briefly silent, surprised at Jimmy’s unexpected fierceness. Jimmy had never been so aware of his height; he was not _short_ , but he was not _tall_ either, and he was lacking four or five inches on this man. He would be squashed like a bug.

A second man approached the table, a couple of inches shorter than their current problem, and leaner, but more obviously muscled.

 _Oh God, we’re going to die_ , Jimmy thought. “Just - just leave us alone.”

“I think it’s time to go, Pete,” the second man said, laying a massive hand on the first’s shoulder.

Pete turned round and looked at him steadily, sizing him up. Then, without a word, he walked away, right out of the pub.

Jimmy sat down with a thump, suddenly aware that Thomas had been gripping his wrist. The second man gave Thomas a single nod, which Thomas returned, and left them alone.

“Oh, my God,” Jimmy groaned.

Thomas let go of Jimmy’s wrist. “You were amazing,” he said quietly.

“I thought I was going to _die_. Who was that other guy?”

“Ah - that was Mark. He works here. I - he was -”

“You’ve been with him,” Jimmy surmised.

“Yes.”

“Thank the Lord in Heaven for that.”

Thomas chuckled. “It doesn’t bother you, then?”

“Well, it was before us, wasn’t it?” Jimmy said, unconcerned; Thomas nodded. “I think he just saved our lives. I might buy him a bloody drink.”

Thomas grinned. “I’m buying you one first.”


End file.
